Out of the Shadows (Renegades)

by Ana Stone

  Roxy was a bit stunned. Fuck? Hell yeah, that she understood. But make love? Nothing in her memory spoke of making love with West. Fucking? Oh, yeah. But making love? Wasn’t that something she reserved for Zeke?

  And where has that gotten you?

  Maybe the truth was, West was probably the only man besides Zeke she’d even want to make love with. Not just because of their mutual carnal hunger but because somewhere inside her was a half-remembered feeling – a feeling that she cared for him as much or more than she’d ever cared for anyone. anyone. West seemed to know her deep down inside, had seen her at her best and worst and wanted what was there.

  As her mind sought the answer, he pulled her t-shirt over her head, revealing that she had nothing on beneath it. As she watched he divested himself of all clothing then lay her back on the bed and sat beside her. His hands traced lightly down the length of her body and back up. “You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, Roxy. I’ve loved you for so long.”

  “No need for flattery, cowboy, you’ve already got me naked.”

  “Is that all this is, Roxy? A good fuck? Even with what you’ve remembered and what I’ve told you, I’m just a good fuck to you?”

  “Isn’t that enough for now?”

  That wasn’t the right thing to say. She saw it in his face. His hand paused in its slow slide down her body.

  “Is that really what want from me, Roxy?”

  “Yes. No. I…No.”

  “Then what are you looking for?”

  That question seemed to echo in her mind and the reverberations shook loose something that was buried, a feeling that seized her with enough force to shake her. It was frightening and freeing and allowed her to respond honestly.

  “I want this,” she said as she sat to slide her arms up and circle his neck. She pulled his head down and when their lips met she surrendered, offering everything. Not just her body but for the first time, herself.

  She didn’t know if West understood the meaning of the kiss but hoped that on some level that ran deeper than verbal communication he recognized what she offered.

  He must have because his response was to wrap his arms around her and pull her close, deepening the kiss.

  Need blazed as hot and fast as a gun’s muzzle flash and she broke away. Impatience born of hunger had her lips moving to his chest, licking his skin and working her way down his body, stopping at his erection. So hot and soft-skinned, like silk stretched over metal. Hard and soft, all at once. She flicked her tongue over the head then lay back, extending her hand to him.

  West moved, spreading her legs so he was kneeling between them. She shivered in anticipation when his fingertips tracked lazily up the inside of her legs. He could deliver a surprisingly light touch. His fingers brushed the sides of her sex and she spread her legs wider, bending her knees to provide better access.

  “Roxy,” he murmured as his eyes moved from hers to her sex. He repeated her name several times until it sounded like a mantra.

  She rolled her pelvis while he stroked her outer lips. Her labia swelled almost immediately, wet need making his fingers slick. Holy hell she wanted him. She wanted to wrap her legs around him and pull him down on her. But she refrained. She’d play it his way.

  “God, that’s so good,” she murmured as he spread her wide.

  She pressed into the sensation when first a finger then a second started to move inside her. A climax started to build, rumbling inside her like a hungry beast. When his thumb, slick with her juice, circled then pressed against her anus, she exploded, coating his hand with her warm juice.

  West leaned down, bracing himself on his hands. Roxy’s arms moved to circle his neck as his lips met hers, caressing, his tongue parting her lips to taste her.

  She couldn’t stop the groan. Deepening the kiss, her tongue warred with his for dominance.

  West’s mind went blank of every thought other than the feel and taste of her. His heart hammered and his skin burned with suppressed need. When Roxy wrapped her muscular legs around his waist and hoisted her hips up to press her hot sex against him a fever swept through his mind. He grabbed her by the hips and sat back on his heels, pulling her onto him. She hissed a sharp, excited breath, followed by a mumble he couldn’t make out. It didn’t matter. Her first gasp had stabbed him with a shard of hunger so strong it damn near blinded him.

  She took charge, pushing him back so she could climb on top of him. Heat from her wet sex radiated through West’s groin as she rotated her hips, grinding on the length of his erection. Every slide and rub eroded his control. His hands tightened on her hips, fingers digging in as he fought to hold the need at bay, to resist ramming inside her and fucking her like there was no tomorrow.

  Hell’s bells.. He wanted to take it slow, to love her easy but she was so damn potent. He had to get her off his hard on or he wouldn’t hold to his vow to make love and not merely fuck. With a quick move he rolled her onto her back and pressed down on her, pinning her to the bed and gathering her breasts in his hands to feast on her nipples.

  “West… Oh.” A moan followed. Then another.

  An arch against his mouth preceded her hands working between their bodies to fist his erection. It was like having a live wire shoved against his skin. Current shot through him, burning and tingling, nerve endings doing a frantic dance.

  She started to stroke him and he lost control of a groan, closing his eyes. Her touch was like electricity, sending jolts running rampant through him, all culminating in his dick. His breath caught in his throat and he closed his eyes, suckling one breast while fighting the demands of his dick to plunge inside her, pound hard and fast and sate his ravenous need.

  He raised his head from her breasts and their gazes met.

  Roxy’s breath caught at the look on his face. It was so replete with hunger. Her own need was intensified to the point that the throb of her heart was an echoing pulse sounding loud in her ears. She had to have him soon or she was going to spontaneously combust.

  Fisting both hands in his hair she pulled him to her, exploring, tasting his lips, nipping at the full bottom lip before indulging herself in the warmth of his mouth. She’d never tasted anything better. His taste, coupled with the fire that was threatening to consume her had her trembling and sweaty, breathing hard with desire.

  At West’s groan she pulled back to stare into his eyes. She saw heat and need. And emotion—powerful and raw—it was still there. That shook her to the core of her soul.

  She couldn’t look anymore. Couldn’t take what it did to her. Closing her eyes, she traced her fingers over his face, memorizing the feel of him. When she reached his mouth she opened her eyes. He was watching with a tender expression on his face. Slowly he smiled. A sexy smile that caused a hitch in her breathing.

  “You know what I want, don’t you,” he murmured. Hunger darkened his eyes.

  “Take it.”

  Roxy pulled him down again, licking at his lips then devoured them in a kiss that was as demanding as an addict eager for the next high. Damn she was trying to be slow and gentle, to follow his lead but there wasn’t much gentle about her need for him. It was a full-blown, burn down the barn itch that either had to be scratched or drive her insane.

  Moving her mouth to latch onto the side of his neck, she rolled so that he was beneath her. He’d have a hickey as dark as tar tomorrow but right now it didn’t matter. His taste was unique. Exotic and oh-so-male. Even his smell made her horny. Sliding down his body she explored his chest with her mouth, taking her time, lost in the feel and taste of him as she worked her way down his body. She slithered between his legs, spreading his thighs to kneel between them and then took a long slow look up the length of his body. Call the fire department. This man was hot enough to start a five -alarm fire. Their eyes met as she fisted his erection. The slight arch of his body provoked a stab of powerful feminine satisfaction inside her. Just as she started to stroke him he grasped her wrists and sat up, pulling her arms behind her ba
ck.

  “Hey!”

  The firm grip of his hands reminded her of his strength. Not many men could best her in a one-on-one. No brag, just fact. She wasn’t a weak woman. But West could. Loathe as she would be to admit it aloud, she didn’t stand a chance against him. He’d take her.

  That thought prompted something wild and primitive from deep inside her, something that thrilled her. Whatever it was, it wanted to be taken, to be possessed and loved until she was drained.

  West could smell her need, could feel it humming in her. It fueled a fire inside him that was threatening to blaze out of control. A need. To make her his. To brand her, stake a claim on her that couldn’t be undone.

  Her skin was damp with perspiration, hot to the touch. Despite the air conditioning in the room, he’d bet that heat had more to do with what was happening on the bed than the ambient temperature. He ran his tongue under her breast, moving up the side of the full mound. She arched her back as he flicked his tongue over her nipple, running small circles around the hardening nub. When he captured it between his teeth, Roxy moaned.

  He knew he didn’t have to be gentle and he wasn’t. Inside of a minute she was writhing on him. Her sex rubbed along the length of his erection, her breath fast and hard.

  A battle raged inside him. Throw her on her back and sink to the hilt inside her, or delay and drive her even wilder with need. Make her want him even more. The need for her to want him more won.

  West released her wrists and rolled her onto her back. Her groan of protest turned into a growl of pleasure when he ran his tongue down the center of her body, stopping at her clit.

  Moving his hands up the sides of her legs to her hips and then beneath her, he grabbed her ass tight and pulled her sex to his face. Even her smell was erotic and dangerous. An odd blend of dark and light, musky yet sweet. Roxy moaned her encouragement, fisting his hair and pulling his head to her.

  “You want it?” he growled against her flesh.

  “Yes!”

  “Louder.”

  “YES!”

  West felt merciless and taunted her further. He hovered over her sex but didn’t touch it. She shivered. Her thighs cramped on either side of his face. She’d trap him there like a vise grip.

  “West,” she snarled. A warning.

  Her clit was hard and ready when his tongue moved over it. Roxy gave a loud groan and gripped him tighter, arching toward him. He knew how to work her, how to build her to the point of release then ease her down. He indulged himself in that, sucking the hard nub into his mouth, circling the sensitive flesh with his tongue and feeling her body tense in preparation for climax.

  He readied as well. Just as she’d gasp and start to shudder, he’d move his mouth away, only to start again. By the fourth time he’d used that maneuver she was shouting curses and pleas.

  “Fuck! Don’t stop! Do me. Now!”

  He stopped and stretched out on top of her, claiming her lips in a searing kiss, mixing the taste of her sex with that of her mouth. Her body was humming, tight and primed, a sound in her throat making her chest rumble in a way that was primal, almost animalistic.

  West recognized the sound on a purely primal male level. She’d moved beyond mere want into full blown must-have-it need. The fact that he’d awakened such hunger had him hard as steel, his mind damn near going blank with the desire to fill her, hammer inside her. Make her scream and shudder until there was nothing left.

  She ground against him, pressed his dick tight between them, panted into his mouth then broke the kiss and pushed him once more onto his back. He let her.

  “Why didn’t you take it!” she growled, straddled his body. Her hands moved from a sharp tweak on his nipples to his dick.

  “I will. In time.”

  Oh she didn’t like that one bit. Well two could play that game.

  He shivered when she ran one fingernail over the head of his dick, lubricating it with the pre-cum that beaded there. Christ. Neither of them was going to last long with so much built-up need. And he’d reached a point that his couldn’t be ignored.

  “You still want it?” he teased.

  “Oh, you—”

  He moved hard and fast. She was on her back, his hands tight on her ass, lifting her up to press the head of his dick against her wet sex. Gritting his teeth against the urge to pound, he tried to go slow. She clenched around him. He broke out in a sweat, stifled a groan.

  Fuck. He yearned to pound into her, slake this thirst. It took all the control he could muster to hold back. Teeth clenched, breaths hissing between them and chest tight with effort, he fought for control that the movements of her hips was eroding by the second.

  Roxy hissed a threat. “You better do this.”

  “My way, remember?” He didn’t know how he could even think, let alone talk.

  Sweat tickled his forehead. It stung his eyes as he hilted himself inside her then slowly pulled out almost completely, leaving only the head of his dick inside her. She yelled for more. He plunged back in.

  “West,” she cried out, lolled her head side to side. “Take it, take it, take it.”

  His rhythm increased in speed and intensity. Wanting to sink deeper, he grabbed behind her knees and lifted her legs in the air.

  Roxy moaned a “yes” that lasted forever and stretched her arms up over her head, arching up against him and abandoning all control.

  That shook him. It was a move so feminine and submissive—especially from the proud warrior he knew her to be. It almost sent him spiraling out of control. Primal need took over and he thrust hard and fast, her cries and gasps driving him faster and harder until he felt control fading like darkness in dawn.

  He was at the edge. No way he could hold out much longer. He slowed the pace and lowered her legs to stretch out on her, feeling her breasts flatten beneath him, her skin slick and hot.

  His lips sought hers in a kiss that was slow but passionate, matching the motion of his hips. Here it was. That illusive thing he’d searched for but could never find with anyone else. That “fit”. As corny as it might be, he wanted the moment to last, to be able to ensnare it and hold it forever. Nothing in his life had ever felt so right as this moment, and this woman.

  Roxy moaned into his mouth, wrapped her legs around his waist and bucked against him. He drove himself into her wet core, feeling her push back against each thrust, driving him deeper into her. Her legs tightened around him as her body went into climax. West saw it clearly. Felt it, smelled it, tasted it.

  “That’s it,” he whispered against her mouth.

  Wetness poured between them, her sex clenching around him, her belly contracting. Her head arched back, eyes closed. West slowed his movements, enjoying the feel of her orgasm. Rings of it tightening around his dick. God, there’d never be another Roxy in his life.

  She went limp and stretched like a lazy cat, smiling up at him. His mouth traveled to her breasts, teasing her nipples as he moved slow and strong inside her. Just as another orgasm began to ripple through her body—shit, he could feel each frisson pass through him—he kicked it into high gear and hammered into her.

  “Yes! YES!”

  Roxy screamed in pleasure, bucking against him, nails digging into the flesh of his back, teeth biting at his neck. Sweat poured from them, making their bodies slick against one another.

  “Now!” she screamed. “Yes! Yes!”

  He raised his head and their eyes locked. And together they took the freefall. Fever took him. Over his eyes, a red haze descended, hot and beating to the pulse of his heartbeat. She was his. His lover, his woman. Nothing would ever be the same again. And nothing would take her from him. Not as long as he drew breath.

  When the storm passed West sagged onto her, feeling the rapid pound of her heart.

  “Need air,” she wheezed.

  West moved off her so she could roll over onto her side, her face against his chest. So hot. He wrapped his arms around her, relaxing. He fought it but it didn’t take long for slee
p to claim him.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Have a seat,” Maybelle gestured to the table in the kitchen.

  Zeke pulled out a chair and sat. Maybelle busied herself preparing tea. Zeke watched in silence. How many times had he watched her do this very thing? A lot. And always when there was a serious discussion to be had. Tea and serious issues seemed to go hand-in-hand in Maybelle’s world.

  Her actions were methodical, with no wasted motions as she went through the ritual. Neither of them spoke. Not even as they waited for the kettle to scream, announcing that the water was hot enough.

  As was her custom, she placed the saucers, cups, cream tureen, a saucer with sugar cubes, one with lemon wedges, spoons, napkins and the teapot on a tray and carried it to the table.

  Maybelle placed napkins on the table for each of them, poured two cups of tea and handed one to Zeke before she took a seat. As she poured a bit of crème into her tea she spoke.

  “Rather late for a visit.”

  “And yet you were expecting me.” He left his cup untouched. Zeke hated hot tea. Always had. She knew that, but still she always placed a cup in front of him.

  She looked up, gave him a ghost of a smile, then sampled her tea. “So talk.”

  “Meth was stolen from a lab. A lot of meth. Word is, it ended up on one of your boats. The Lisa-Marie.”

  “Is that so?”

  “That’s the word on the street.”

  “And what does that have to do with you?”

  There it was. The question he’d been dreading. “You know I don’t run the club, Maybelle.”

  “No, you do much worse. You follow the dictates of a man with no scruples, no morals and no love for family.”

  “I don’t agree with what Reese has done. I never have. You know that. It’s why I left. And I wouldn’t have come back if there had been another—“

  “Don’t bother finishing that particular lie, Ezekiel.”

  Zeke knew better than to pursue that line of discussion. Maybelle used his full name only when her mind was made up on an issue. Nothing short of a nuclear blast could dislodge her from a stance once she had taken it.